Modern wireless communication protocols may use multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) transmission schemes when transferring communications to wireless communication devices. MIMO uses multiple antennas for each carrier in a wireless access node in order to improve communication transfer performance. The improvements in communication transfer performance may include increased wireless range and data throughput. Some examples of MIMO wireless protocols include Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and the latest 802.11n wireless protocols (Wi-Fi).
A key factor in the proper implementation of a MIMO communication system is multipath, since MIMO requires a multipath-rich environment. Scattering and multipath enable de-correlation of the signals at the receiver, which is a necessity for MIMO to function properly. In contrast, line-of-sight environments result in signals that typically are still highly correlated and thus cannot be distinguished from one another, leading to an inability for the receiver to decode the two signals and thus an implementation failure of MIMO. This problem is particularly common within buildings, where there is generally a lack of strong scattering agents and it can therefore be difficult to achieve a good multipath environment for MIMO. Without higher degrees of scattering and multipath within buildings, the potential benefits of MIMO are negated and ultimately a lower data throughput is experienced by users of the MIMO communication system.